Ivey credits his development as a defender to his days as a dancer in high school in Queens, N.Y. His danced his way into the into the Cardozo magnet high school where he took courses in ballet and hip-hop. <a href=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030404/ap_on_sp_co_ne/bkc_final_four_texas_1 target=_blank>more</a> on Yahoo!

James Brown -- architect of funk, godfather of soul and the source of 10,000 hip-hop samples -- isn't exactly hurting for accolades. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame made him one of its first inductees (along with Elvis and Chuck Berry), and history books list him as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. <a href=http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/5591240.htm target=_blank>more</a>

As a child ballerina in New York's School of American Ballet, Sage started to teach herself piano by "picking out the melodies that we danced to," then moved on to pounding out Beatles songs with classical arrangements on the school piano "until they kicked me out of the building." <a href=http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/living/5661960.htm target=_blank>more</a>

The International Academy for Equestrian Studies, Warendorf, Germany, reports that their recent Trainer B Course had an eclectic mix of students including an ex-ballet dancer turned hunter/jumper rider who was interested in dressage.www.equestrian-academy.org

Followers of South Jersey swimming know Kara Swift is quick in the water. What they might not know is that she is also light on her feet. <a href=http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/high_school/5781794.htm target=_blank>more</a>

She has legs that seem to go on forever, but Charlize Theron says, “I’ve got knees like an 80-year-old.”

Twelve years of intensive ballet training led to a spot with the Joffrey Ballet. But that all ended when, at 19, Theron had “a horrible knee injury.” Forced to consider career alternatives that didn’t include dancing, she chose acting.

“It was that or pack grocery bags in South Africa,” says Theron, 27, who grew up on a farm in South Africa but left the country at 15. “And doing that wasn’t high on my list.”

If there is a deity watching over Theron, she has a strange sense of humor. The former budding ballerina, high-fashion model and current A-list star was born in dusty Benoni, where her parents ran a road construction company. If you've read Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra Fuller's raw, recent memoir of white life in apartheid Africa, you have an idea of what it was like.

While growing up in Brooklyn, Tony Danza admired icons such as Frank, Dino and Sammy be cause they were so versatile. <a href=http://www.cleveland.com/artsandevents/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/friday/1056706661106830.xml target=_blank>more</a>

Trading bonds for ballet lessons By Abigail Hofman for The Financial Times

It can be hard to stay away. The familiar is compelling and recidivism occurs. A City head-hunter called me this month to say that an international bank was interested in luring me back to work. This man specialises in achieving multi-million-dollar compensation packages for his candidates. For a moment, I was tempted. Then it hit me; returning to the City would preclude ballet lessons, four times a week.

Ballet has changed my body. Toned thighs have replaced cellulite-speckled trunks. It was Indecent Proposal in reverse: gorgeous legs or $1m? The legs won. After all, there is a time and place for everything.

I am now out of the Finance industry, but I have certainly had my share of enticing offers. The latest was one that would have taken up my entire summer for an ungodly sum of money. As I imagined what it would be like again --- day after day in the City (NYC, not London), I had a visceral reaction against it.

I have also been aware that if I really took those offers seriously long-term, then I would lose out on a dance career. That is what happened to the author in this article. We cannot do everything, I suppose. Therefore, I only took such offers to the extent that I was broke.

The result is I got out of finance before I had really made any fortune. It paid for my education and wedding and dance training and a few electronic toys, which is what I really wanted. An extra $75m would not have meant as much to me, not if it meant spending 10 years in the "golden salt mines". Very apt description of that line of work.

I am now a post-doctoral research fellow and a professional dancer. Poor but happy, I suppose.

This blew me away. I was watching "Before they were Rock Stars" and who knew that Tommy Lee was a budding ballet dancer? There he was in white tights and velvet tunic, standing in a nice 5th position. Then the next story was even better, a video of Kid Rock doing a jazz number. They both got started by going with their sisters to dance class just like in Chorus Line.

I'm sure she is already on the list...but I saw on TV the other night that Jada Pickett-Smith (Will Smiths wife and currently an actress) was a professional ballet dancer when she was selected for an acting role. They showed some beautiful dance videos on her...always thought she looked like a dancer!!!

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